8.8.16

Note: This is a continuation of a previous post.START HERE!Step 3: Prepare your image

The emulsion on your screen is photosensitive; when it’s exposed to light, the emulsion hardens onto the fabric and becomes water-resistant. So, to put your image on the screen, make a “positive” with an opaque, black image on it (blocks light) and a transparent background that lets light get through to react with the photo emulsion.

An easy way to do this is to make a black and white image using Adobe Photoshop CS6 or CorelDraw X7, print it on a bondpaper.

More ideas:

It’s even possible to make a “grayscale” screen print, where solid black areas on your printed image end up entirely clear on your screen, and gray areas are a pattern of tiny black dots that become tiny clear spaces on your screen. To do this, you’ll still need to start with a fairly high-contrast black and white image, then convert it to bitmap. A resolution test pattern (like this classic RCA test pattern) helps with calibration and makes a neat screen printed image by itself, too.

Since both of your screen and image are ready, it's time for the next step.

Step 5: Expose it then rinse

If you already have an exposure box, you can use it in this step. Those who doesn't know what exposure box is ― it is a light box or light table, with several fluorescent bulbs set directly under a glass, allows for simpler set-up and shorter exposure times, but may take some experimentation to figure out what the correct exposure time should be. Depending on what light intensity you have coming out of the light box, your exposure time could be around 6 or 7 minutes.

But in this tutorial, since not everyone has an exposure box, we will do the old way ― the direct to sunlight exposure.

Lay your image and the glass on top of that, make sure to place your image backward, facing the screen and against the glass, so that it is in correct position when you look at the bottom side of the screen. This is especially important for text and numbers.

and lastly put the hard board at the bottom.

Now, find a good spot outside for your direct-to-sunlight exposure.

The exposure time? Just 1... 2... 3... 4... and that's it!

Now the exposure is done, remove the glass, the pattern, the foams and the hard board, then rinse the screen.

Spray the screen using the Pump up Hand Held Pressure Sprayer. As you spray, you’ll see clear areas developing where your images blocked the exposure light; concentrate your spraying on those areas. Hold the screen up to the light; the mesh of the screen fabric should be entirely clear and open in your image areas. If it’s not, keep on spraying.

Once done spraying, let it dry completely.

Apply Photo Hardener on your fully-dried screen. This will add hardness to the photo-emulsion applied on screen.

Note: This is a continuation of a previous post.START HERE!Step 2: Apply it to the Screen

First – Be sure to clean the area to avoid your project getting filthy because this step needs extra careful and should be relatively clean.

You can use a piece of old sim card body to substitute squeegee, as long as it is wide, straight, smooth edge for spreading.

Cover the edge part of the frame using a masking tape to secure the photo-emulsion and to avoid it from spilling.

Pour out a thick line of emulsion across one end of the screen (over the masking tape).

Using the old sim card spread it evenly over the whole screen, making a thin layer. Always check for pin holes and cover it by spreading the photo-emulsion repeatedly. Repeat this process until you have a thin, even layer of emulsion covering the entire screen.

Now, your frame is ready and all you need is to make it clean by wiping the excess emulsion.

Once you’re done, set your screen in a shaded room, (putting it in a dark place is not necessary)

and blow it dry using hair dryer.

It's done. Put your frame in the shaded area and cover it with dark cloth.

2.8.16

To answer your question on, how do I print a heap of t-shirts and school uniform patches fast? Here’s how I did it.

Like other online screen printing tutorials, the process is almost the same; like in ways on the preparation and on how to screen print except for the strategies and components used. Anyway, I will try to share with you my knowledge on this in the simplest way. I will share with you my ideas from stretching fine-mesh cloth over a wooden frame, preparing your image using image editor and how to use grayscale which is remarkable for printing more than 2 or a complicated-color-text or image design, how to properly set inks and many more.

The overall hint:

Once stretching fine-mesh cloth over a wooden frame is done, just spread a thin layer of photosensitive emulsion on the screen and let it dry using a hair dryer (optional).

Prepare your pattern (a black image on transparent or translucent surface), lay it on the screen, and then expose the screen to light. The light will make the emulsion harden and tie up to the fabric. When the light hit the screen, the emulsion will bind, makes it a solid layer but when the light is blocked the emulsion thaw. When the screen exposed, just spray it with water, the clear area of the screen is where ink will be pressed through the screen during print. Let the screen dry. Once the screen dried up, apply photo hardener. Lastly, just put the screen on your t shirt; by using a squeegee, spread ink on the inside part of the screen, and press the ink through it. Once dried, heat-set the ink and it will be long lasting and washable.

As I’ve said earlier, there are some awesome photo-emulsion screen printing tutorials that are already online, yet there is always room for more, right?